Data Core · Data Collection · Module
The sources
Where data actually comes from, and which source is authoritative where several disagree.
The idea
How it works
Most organisations hold the same fact in several places, maintained by different processes and updated at different times. The reconciliation problem that follows is a source problem rather than a reporting one.
Designating a source of truth per fact is a small decision with a large effect: it converts a recurring argument into a lookup.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Map where each fact lives
Customer count, revenue, headcount. Most exist in three systems with three values.
- 02
Designate one authoritative source per fact
The others become derived and are expected to differ, which stops the argument.
- 03
Record how each source is maintained
Automatic, manual or imported. Manual sources drift and their drift is invisible.
- 04
Note the update timing
Two sources correct at different moments will always disagree, and the disagreement is not an error.
One level in
The components of the sources
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
Designating one authoritative source per fact converts a recurring argument into a lookup.
The other modules in data collection
Instrumentation
What is deliberately captured and how — the design decision that determines which questions the organisation will ever be able to answer.
LearnData quality
Whether the data is complete, accurate, timely and consistent — measured rather than assumed, since the assumption is always that it is fine.
LearnConsent and basis
What the organisation is entitled to collect and hold, on what basis, and what it has told people.
Learn